Across the pond in Britain, the country is struggling with many of the same concerns that stem from the new coronavirus pandemic as the United States and other nations. In addition to a crushing recession, its public health system is under enormous pressure from all COVID-19 patients who require care. (And if you know anything about Britain’s National Health Service, you know it wasn’t that robust to begin with.) With this in mind, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is outlining a plan to address this problem. He points out that obesity is too big of a problem for his compatriots and that they will have to start losing some weight so that they don’t continue to burden the available healthcare resources. (Boston Globe)
Britain will crack down on junk food advertising and introduce calorie counts on menus in an effort to combat obesity and ease pressure on the country’s National Health Service amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government said on Monday.
For British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the intersection of obesity and the coronavirus is personal. Johnson, by his own admission, was “overweight” when he was admitted to the hospital after falling ill with COVID-19 this year, and his health deteriorated to the point that he needed intensive care at one point.
Studies have linked obesity to an increased risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.
It seems to me that BoJo is internalizing his own fight with COVID-19 too much. While it’s true that Brits have a growing obesity problem on a par with Americans, the connection between that trend and the results of COVID-19 infections seems a bit tenuous. Obviously, if you have any underlying health problems, you will be at increased risk for the new coronavirus, and being overweight is clearly one of those factors. Being overweight can’t help by fighting the virus. But there are also many other factors.
When Johnson was hospitalized, he was definitely a bit heavy, although he wouldn’t have called him obese. And he lost a lot of weight while in the hospital, so he looks better now than when he entered. But let’s accept for the moment that having fewer obese people is generally a good thing with or without an anger pandemic. How does Johnson propose to address this health crisis?
He is calling for a ban on all television advertising for “any food high in fat, sugar or salt” until 9 pm. That way, fewer children will be less likely to see the ads. It is also considering banning junk food online ads.
Proposals like these are always problematic from the start. What will you qualify as “junk food” for the purposes of these advertisements? Breakfast cereals with some sugar? Soda? How about fast food restaurants? (Not much of their menus consist of anything I would describe as particularly healthy.)
The other problem is that you are not talking about banning the food in question. Only advertising for them. Children, in particular, will not forget that these foods exist only because the ads disappear. They will still pester their parents to buy them. And kids aren’t really the bulk of this problem, by the way. Obesity in adults is a much bigger problem, and adults tend to be less physically active than children, especially if they have office / desk jobs.
It seems that all BoJo is planning to do here is significantly reduce the BBC’s ad revenue stream without producing much effect. And going out in public and calling all your citizens a bunch of fats is probably not going to do much for their popularity either.
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